Why World Threats Are Suddenly More Apparent

President Barack Obama said during his Latin America trip in April that he does not believe “if we showed courtesy or opened up dialogue with governments that had previously been hostile to us, that that somehow would be a sign of weakness.” Unfortunately, he does not understand that is exactly how hostile powers view such American overtures. In the last two months, rogue states Iran and North Korea have been emboldened to conduct missile tests and advance their nuclear programs while rejecting Obama’s diplomatic overtures. Anti-American regimes in Venezuela and Cuba have been able to breathe more easily. And behind these revisionist states, Beijing has gained new confidence that its rise will be allowed to continue without counteraction as the days of U.S. “hegemony” come to an end.

While China is rejoicing at the prospect of dethroning the United States, America’s allies are worried. Though the Obama administration is filled with people who believe strong U.S. leadership alienates foreign opinion, firm international alliances are built on strength and trust. Being weak and unreliable are not the qualities sought in times of danger.

With the Extreme Left in power in America, it now appears that Australia is going to have to take over America's role as the chief deterrent to the Axis of Evil. The article discusses.

In the United States, defense programs are on hold pending the release of a new Quadrennial Defense Review this summer. The fiscal 2010 defense budget was not, however, a good omen in that it contained projected cuts in exactly the type of advanced weapons (the F-22, warship construction, missile defense) that would be needed to contain rising Chinese military power. As the QDR is being prepared, American strategists would do well to frame their thinking as their Australian counterparts did when they set out the goal of their white paper.